


In the Middle

by musiclove915



Series: Melodramatic Musical [4]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Isaac and Stiles are Roommates, M/M, Matchmaker Stiles Stilinski, Oblivious Stiles Stilinski, Scott McCall & Stiles Stilinski Friendship, but he wasn't trying to be
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-31
Updated: 2020-05-31
Packaged: 2021-03-03 08:28:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24467959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/musiclove915/pseuds/musiclove915
Summary: All Stiles wanted to do was introduce his best friend to his roommate. What's the worst that can happen?
Relationships: Isaac Lahey & Stiles Stilinski, Isaac Lahey/Scott McCall, Scott McCall & Stiles Stilinski
Series: Melodramatic Musical [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1725958
Kudos: 76





	In the Middle

**Author's Note:**

> Based on the song 'In the Middle' by dodie

“So what are you doing on Friday?” Stiles asked out of nowhere. They’d been studying for the past two hours in almost complete silence.

Isaac didn’t jump anymore whenever his roommate would break the silence any longer. True, it had taken a few months to get to that point, but he was better about it now. In that same time, he’d also learned not to eat or drink anything when Stiles was telling a funny story, to put passwords on all his electronic devices (and to change them regularly), and to never ever bring up Star Wars. (It took four hours the get Stiles to stop talking about the whole franchise the first time Isaac had brought it up. And all he’d mentioned was that he hadn’t seen them.) But other than that they were getting along great.

“Not that I know of.” Isaac said not even looking up from his textbook. It wasn’t like he had much of a social life. Yeah, he had a few friends, but they hadn’t said they were going to do anything yet.

“Great, I really want to introduce you to a friend of mine.” Isaac made a face that could only be interpreted as him reconsidering. Stiles’ last friend that he had met was Lydia, who he still felt a chill of fear just thinking about. “Don’t worry, he’s nothing like Lydia. This guy’s like a puppy, he likes everyone. Which come to think of it doesn’t sound like a good thing to be. Like he _is_ someone that would willing get into a stranger’s—”

“Stiles,” Isaac interrupted, “back to the point.”

“Oh yeah, sorry. I was wondering if you’d like to have lunch with us Friday.”

“Okay?”

“Look, I just really want to introduce my best friend to my roommate. I think you two would get along.”

He thought about it and shrugged his shoulders. At least it couldn’t be any worse than Lydia.

***

For the next few days, Stiles hyped up the lunch. He knew he was probably annoying Isaac with him constantly reminding him about it, but he was excited. It wasn’t every day that he’d get to hang out with his best friend.

True, he’d gotten to see a few people from back home while at school. And true, it had only been Lydia and she was only really visiting because him because Jackson was attending the same university as him, but someone had visited him. It wasn’t the same for Scott.

He had stayed in Beacon Hills, going to the local community college, and the only people he had to hang out with were their friends that were still in high school.

The morning that Stiles left for UCLA was very emotional ( _No, we’re not crying, Dad. We just have allergies._ ) even if neither of them would admit it. And since that day, they’ve always talked just like they did when they lived in the same town. And with the power of video chatting they got to see each other, but for them that wasn’t enough. But at least they’d be able to see each other in person before the winter break. So that was something.

Mostly, he was excited to get a chance to make his normally happy-go-lucky friend genuinely happy again. A lot happened to Scott in a matter of days; his best friend left, his work was cutting back his hours, and to top it all off his girlfriend of three years broke up with him right before leaving for college herself. Scott tried to put on a happy face, and for some he did _seem_ happy, but Stiles knew better. Nothing could be hidden from best friends.

And what better way to cheer someone up than to expand their social circle. Especially, people who aren’t in high school anymore.

“I don’t think I should go out with you tomorrow.” Isaac said so softly if there had been any noise in the room, Stiles wouldn’t have heard it.

“What?!” He practically screeched. They both cringed at the unpleasant sound. Stiles tried again in a human register. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, this is your best friend. Someone you’ve been really excited to hang out with. I don’t want to take any time away from you seeing him.”

 _No, he’s ruining my plans…_ “You’re not taking any time away. He’s going to be here the whole day, well afternoon and night, but I have that whole time to see him by myself. We’re actually going to dinner too so I can hang out with him then.”

“Okay, but maybe he wants to hang out with you alone? You said it’s been a few months since you’ve seen him in person.”

“It’ll be fine. Anyway, Scott likes surprises.”

“Wait.” Isaac stopped and looked at his roommate. “Does he know I’m going to lunch with you?”

 _Good job, idiot._ “Not exactly…” Isaac raised an eyebrow. “Okay, so he doesn’t know you’ll be there, but he won’t mind. He loves meeting new people.”

“I don’t know, Stiles, this seems weird. I just don’t want to feel like a third wheel.”

“You won’t.” Stiles smiles, trying desperately to convince Isaac to come. “I might not be great at remembering I’m talking to other people, but Scotty is. He’ll include you into the conversation, so you’ll never feel like a third wheel.”

“I still don’t know.”

An idea struck. “Why don’t you invite your friends with?”

“What?”

“Yeah, that’s a great idea. Invite your friends and you won’t feel like a third wheel. It’s impossible to fell that way in a group.”

He thought about it for a few seconds but eventually shook his head. “I’ll go, but I won’t bring my friends.” He then muttered, “This is going to be weird enough without an audience.”

Stiles smiled, going back to his homework. He kind of wanted Isaac’s friends to come along as well, but that could happen the next time Scott visited.

***

The next morning, Stiles woke up before his alarm, he was just so excited to see his best friend. After getting up, as quietly as he could, which wasn’t really quiet since he managed to knock over the desk lamp and the stake of books from their shared desk, he grabbed his shower things and a towel and headed to the showers. He was doing everything to make the day a great one, hence the shower. (“ _Hey, it’s difficult to take a shower after all those classes and studying and running around campus and—” “No, Stiles it isn’t, basic hygiene isn’t difficult.”_ ) When he was squeaky clean, he raced back to his room clutching the towel around his waist. And thankfully when he got back, Isaac was picking up the books that had been knocked over and putting the lamp back into place, giving Stiles enough time to at least put on some underwear.

“So you ready for today?” Stiles asked after putting on a shirt.

With a sigh, Isaac sat on his bed. “Are you sure about this?”

Stiles rolled his eyes. Even after the first conversation, when he thought they agreed that it _was_ happening, Isaac would occasionally backtrack and say he wasn’t going. It took a few times, and most of the night, to convince him that everything would be okay.

“Yes, Isaac, I’m sure. We are _not_ getting into this again.”

“Well, sorry.” He huffed. “But it feels like you’re setting me up on a date.”

He paused, his pants button still undone and his zipper half down. Where did that come from? All Stiles wanted was to have his best friend meet his roommate. He just thought they would get along and be great friends themselves. They liked a lot of the same things, watched the same shows, even dated similar girls (at least he thinks so, since he never met Isaac’s ex-girlfriend).

But did he think they should date? No. They were _too_ similar.

With a sigh he buttoned his pants. And then pulled his zipper the rest of the way up, he didn’t need it falling while he was out. “Look, the truth is, Scott doesn’t have that many friends his own age. Like, I’m his only friend that’s the same age as him. It might surprise you to learn that I wasn’t really popular in high school.” Isaac gave him a flat look. “I know, shocking right? Anyway, all through school Scott was made fun of because of his asthma. Which was stupid because he can’t help that, you know.” Isaac nodded solemnly. “Well since then, he’s been somewhat of a people pleaser, much to my annoyance. But he’s always been a protector of people younger than himself and he has a lot of friends that are younger than him.”

“It seems like you care for him a lot.”

“Yeah, I do. He’s like a brother to me. So, anyway, when I left home, a lot of things happened to him all at once. I just want him to have someone other than me to talk to.”

“Okay, I get it.” Isaac said with a guilty nod. “What time did you want to meet?”

Stiles smiled grabbing his backpack. “I have two classes today, but I’ll be done about noon. And then I’ll meet Scott after so like thirty after that?”

“Okay, I’ll meet you at the café then.”

He smiled again and headed out for his classes.

Throughout the day, Stiles couldn’t concentrate in either of his classes, just waiting for his school day to end so he can finally see Scotty again. When his last class was dismissed, he bolted out of the room like it was on fire. Running past the elevator and down the stairs, he pulled out his phone and found two texts from Scott. One asking where to park and the other saying he found a place and that he hoped he wouldn’t get a ticket. Stiles laughed seeing the texts and then put his phone back in his pocket. Once he finally got outside, he saw the greatest thing ever. Scott leaning against a tree looking at his phone. Without thinking, he ran full force at his best friend and launched into a hug when he was close enough.

“You’re here!” Stiles shouted. They might have gotten looks but he didn’t care. “It’s so good to see you, man.”

Scott chuckled. “Yeah, well if you let me out of this hug, I’ll say it’s good to see you too.”

“Nope,” the ‘p’ was popped hard, “never letting you go.”

“Well, dude, it’s going to be hard to walk or eat if you don’t.”

With a sigh, Stiles released his friend. “Dude, what happened to your hair?”

“What about it?” Scott grabbed it uncomfortably. “And what about yours?”

“I grew it out, didn’t think that buzz cut was doing me any favors.”

“Finally realized that,” Scott teased.

“Ass,” he scoffed, hitting Scott’s arm. He then realized the black ink on his friends arm. “Is that a tattoo?” He asked lifting up the shirt sleeve.

Scott rolled his eyes, missing his best friends lack of personal space. “Yeah.”

“And you didn’t tell me?”

“I told you.”

“No, you said that you were thinking about getting one.”

“Well, I thought about it and I got one.”

“What did your mom think?”

“I’m not dead, so that’s a good sign.” They both laughed at the possibility of Scott’s death. “This is great and all, but that was a long drive and I’m starving. You ready for lunch?”

“Sure, there’s a café close by that has really good sandwiches.” Stiles lead the way, wondering when the best time was to bring up Isaac. _Now or never._ “Hey, hope you don’t mind but my roommate is going to have lunch with us.”

“Your roommate? Um…Isaac, right? I guess not?” He said hesitantly, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Is that not okay?”

“No,” he quickly changed his tone to something happier, “that’s fine with me. I was just trying to remember his name.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. Should meet the guy that you’re annoying this year.”

“Shut up.” Stiles nudged Scott. “I think you two will get along great.”

“Why? You trying to set me up?” Scott joked.

Stiles stopped. Why did they both say that? That wasn’t the plan, and he knew it would probably never happen either.

“No, why would I do that?”

“I was joking, dude. Anyway, you know I’m not over Allison yet.”

“Well, I’m not.”

Scott rolled his eyes and continued to follow Stiles to the café. When they got there, they both scanned the room. Stiles was looking for Isaac, but Scott didn’t know who they were looking for, so he just looked around the coffee shop since he’d never been there. After a few moments, Stiles dragged his friend to a table with a curly haired blond guy. Scott was mesmerized by this guy. It took a few seconds to realize Stiles was talking.

“Um…Scott?” Stiles tried again. “You there, man?”

“Yeah,” he said a little dazed. “Sorry, I got distracted.”

“Okay. We’ll try this again. Scott this is Isaac. Isaac, Scott.”

“Nice to meet you,” Isaac smiled, holding out his hand.

“You too,” Scott said grabbing the extended hand.

Stiles smiled. It was going better than he imagined. “Okay, I’ll go get our food.” He looked at the long line. “Well, that’s gonna take a while. You okay here by yourselves?” They both nodded. “Great, Scott, any requests?”

“No, whatever you think I’ll like.”

“Isaac?”

“My usual.”

“Cool, I’ll be right back. Just talk amongst yourselves.” They both had a confused expression on their faces. “Okay, I’m gonna go now.” He said awkwardly walking backwards.

Getting into line, Stiles watched his two friends interact. At first it was a little stunted, but it quickly changed. He smiled as he watched them talk, and then laugh, and then talk again. It was nice to see Scott truly happy once again. To see him genuinely laugh again. To see—

Oh no…

Stiles’ eyes widened.

Scott had ‘the smile’ on his face. Stiles knew that look because he’d seen it so often in high school. That goofy smile he always got when he was either talking to Allison or thinking about her. Was he talking about her to Isaac? No, it didn’t look like that… Or maybe Isaac was just that good at listening to a lovesick fool better than Stiles could. (He did his time; he didn’t have to listen to that anymore.) But it didn’t look like that either. So what was making Scott smile like that?

That question was interrupted by the cashier getting Stiles’ attention. He quickly gave his order, paid, and moved to the side, all the while watching his two friends.

They laughed again. And Scott still had that stupid look on his face.

Stiles was too curious to wait for the food, so he made his way back to the table.

“So, what are you guys talking about?” He said still standing up, watching for his order to be ready.

“Isaac was just telling me about your Star Wars rant.” Scott chuckled.

Okay, that was offensive. “It wasn’t a rant. I was just telling him all about the story, and the complexities of each characters story arch. And then he had to say that he’d never seen it before, so I had to be thorough. It’s like you Scott, I had to do the same thing.”

Isaac laughed. “Scott told me that.”

“Well, I think—oh crap, the foods ready. I’ll be right back.” Stiles rushed back before anyone could take their order for themselves.

“Has he always been like that?” Isaac asked watching his roommate nearly crash into someone waiting for their own food.

“Yeah, pretty much. He’s actually toned down since he was a kid.”

“He was worse than that?”

“Yeah, but he’s a great friend.” His focus shifted from his best friend back to the fascinating guy in front of him. He could feel a smile pull at his lips. He was just hoping it wasn’t ‘the smile’, as Stiles dubbed it, but he had a sneaking suspicion that it was. “So where are you from?”

“I was born and raised in LA, actually.”

“That’s cool. What are you doing for winter break?”

Isaac paused, eyeing Scott curiously. “Other than trying to find ways to avoid my father, nothing.”

“Why don’t you come up to Beacon Hills and spend it with us?”

“Really?”

“Yeah, it’ll probably be better than avoiding family.”

Before Isaac could answer, Stiles softly plopped down the tray with their food and drinks.

“Okay, a BLT with an iced tea for Isaac, a club with a coke for Scott and I have the meatball with a root beer.” He said passing out the orders. “So, are we still on the Star Wars discussion?”

“No,” Isaac sighed. “Actually—”

“Hey, Stiles, would it be okay if Isaac joined us for dinner?” Scott asked.

“What?” The other two said for different reasons.

“I’m cool with that.” Stiles said excited that his two friends were bonding so fast. “Do you have anything planned for later, Isaac?”

“No, I don’t.” Isaac said staring only at Scott.

“Great,” Scott said with ‘the smile’ plastered clearly on his face.

**Author's Note:**

> This one kind of came out of nowhere. I heard this song and I just thought it would be perfect as a Scott/Isaac fic.
> 
> Like always, thank you for reading.
> 
> P.S. if you have a song and idea you can ask me either on here or on Twitter, https://twitter.com/musiclove9151 and on Tumblr, musiclove915


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